Partner Abuse

Description

Partner Abuse, a peer-reviewed journal, recognizes that physical and emotional abuse among dating, cohabitating and married partners is as a major public health and social problem in North America and around the world. Its purpose is to advance knowledge, practice and policies through a commitment to rigorous, objective research and evidence-based solutions. In addition to original research papers and literature reviews, the journal welcomes viewpoints and commentaries on the topic of partner abuse, as well as clinical case studies, book reviews and letters to the editor. Articles are sought on the following topics:

Prevalence and characteristics of partner abuse

Partner abuse context and dynamics

Emotional abuse and control (including stalking and sexual coercion)

Etiology and risk factors

Partner abuse and substance abuse

Partner abuse worldwide

Partner abuse in ethnic minority populations

Partner abuse in the LGBT community

Physical and psychological impact of PA and victim issues

The effects of partner abuse on children (short term, and long term into adolescence and adulthood)

The relationship between partner abuse and other forms of family abuse

Partner abuse in disputed child custody cases

Assessment tools and protocols

BIPs: Characteristics, processes and outcome studies

Working with female perpetrators

Individual, couples and family interventions

Restorative justice and other community based models

Victim services

Prevention Programs

Laws and policies related to partner abuse, including standards for batterer intervention and policies on arrest and prosecution

Partner Abuse seeks to advance research, treatment and policy on partner abuse in new directions. A basic premise of the journal is that partner abuse and family violence is a human problem, and that the particular role of gender in the etiology, perpetration and consequences of emotional and physical partner abuse cannot be assumed, but rather must be subjected to the same empirical scrutiny as any other factor. Just as treatment decisions ought to be based on sound assessment protocols, policies on partner abuse ought to be based on an understanding of the full range of available research, without regard to political considerations. The journal is therefore open to original research papers and articles on controversial subjects such as mutual abuse, family violence, female perpetrators, male victims, alternative types of batterer intervention programs, couples and family counseling, and the limitations of current arrest and prosecution policies such as mandatory arrest and one-size-fits-all" mandated batterer treatment. Contributions are also sought on partner abuse within the LGBT community and among ethnic minority groups.

Visit Partner Abuseonline on IngentaConnect to view past issues and tables of contents.

Carolyn M. West, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Washington

Daniel J. Whittaker, Ph.D.
Institute of Public Health
Georgia State University

Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Free Online Database

Over the years, research on partner abuse has become unnecessarily fragmented and politicized. In March 2010, the Senior Editor of Partner Abuse and 42 family violence scholars created the Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project (PASK) to bring together, in a rigorously evidence-based, transparent and methodical manner, existing knowledge about partner abuse, with reliable, up-to-date research that can easily be accessed both by researchers and the general public.

Among PASK’s findings are that, except for sexual coercion, men and women perpetrate physical and non-physical forms of abuse at comparable rates, most domestic violence is mutual, women are as controlling as men, domestic violence by men and women is correlated with essentially the same risk factors, and male and female perpetrators are motivated for similar reasons.

Partner Abuse is published quarterly - January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15 of each year. Contributions are sought primarily from academic researchers, batterer intervention providers and other clinicians and victim advocates; and also from individuals in law enforcement and the courts, and policy makers. Please use the guidelines for developing and submitting a manuscript. To ensure that the editorial board is able to review your manuscript, please follow the guidelines listed in the Author Resources.

SUBMITTING A MANUSCRIPT

Manuscripts for publication in Partner Abuse should be submitted by e-mail to John Hamel johnmhamel@comcast.net.

Related Blog Posts

The most comprehensive review of the scholarly domestic violence research literature ever conducted concludes, among other things, that women perpetrate physical and emotional abuse, as well as engage in control behaviors, at comparable rates to men. The Partner Abuse State of Knowledge project, or PASK, whose final installment was just published in the journal ... Read More

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In its January 2015 issue, Partner Abuse, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by Springer Publishing Company, focuses on intimate partner abuse (PA) among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer communities. Contemporary research finds rates of PA to be comparable or between same-sex and opposite-sex couples, and... Read More